


Eternal Damnation

by icecreamchick45



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: And Automatically Get Elysium, Both Marie and Hazel are Only Mentioned, Character Death, Elysium, Fields of Punishment, Gen, I think?, I'm Calling Bull, No Way Did Luke Do One Good Thing, Percy is Just Mentioned, Post-Canon, Spolier Alert, The Burning Maze Spoilers, Unpopular Opinion, What I Think Must Have Happened, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-13 05:10:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14742587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icecreamchick45/pseuds/icecreamchick45
Summary: Luke thought that just because he decided to kill Kronos in the end; he gets a full ride to Greek Heaven. Yah, sorry buddy. Life doesn't work like that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know opinions, I'm super excited to see thoughts.

Luke thought he knew what to expect when he died. He stopped Kronos and became the child of the prophecy that chose to save Olympus… from a problem that was kinda Luke’s fault, to begin with. Okay, maybe in hindsight the idea that one action meant Elysium wasn’t Annabeth’s wisest idea. He didn’t blame her though, just wished she hadn’t given him false hope as he walked up to the judges. 

“He stole a Zeus’s Master Bolt and Hades Helm of Darkness!”

Hades didn’t even like his brother.

“He poisoned the barrier that protects Camp Half-Blood.”

A barrier that wouldn’t have existed had Hades not sent monsters after an innocent girl and her friends. 

“Worst of all, he conspired against the Olympians to almost bring about the downfall of western civilization.”

Okay, he’s going to get eternal damnation. He’s going to become a cautionary tale for little demigods. ‘Don’t disobey the gods or you’ll end up like Luke Castellan.’ Then everyone would go back to their smores and campfire songs, and nobody would remember the real reasoning behind his actions. 

Sure, he’d been manipulated by Lord Kronos and went way too far with everything, but he wasn’t wrong about it all. The god’s needed to take responsibility for their actions and not just blame everything on their kids. At the very least, they needed to learn about birth control and how to use a condom. 

“Luke Castellan, we subject you to the Fields of Punishment. For final punishment, we turn to a special torment from Lord Hades himself.”

Holy Hera, he was doomed. The lord of the dead was here to give a specialized punishment just for him. With the way that the rest of his life went, he was sure his punishment was going to be the worst known punishment Hades had ever given. Luke didn’t even want to think about what his punishment could be. Maybe it would be a classic one, chained up to rocks while eagles poked out his eyes. Maybe it would be something completely humiliating, like having his soul sewed into Hades Underpants. 

Or maybe it would be absolutely devastating, like having Nico Di Angelo decide his fate, as he was the reason his sister was dead. Maybe that would be his fate in an eternal cycle, having all the half-blood’s whose lives he destroyed decide what would happen to him, with a new punishment every day. 

He honestly couldn’t argue if that’s what was decided. 

When he finally arrived in Punishment, Hades was standing there looking bored. 

“Finally, I was beginning to think you lost your way.” 

This was only going to end one way for him, he might as well try to receive the lightest sentence possible by being respectful.

“Yes, my lord.”

Hades looked at him with an unreadable expression. 

“You know, I could’ve let the judges decide this. However, I feel they are sometimes too impartial. They look at everything as if it is only black and white.”

Luke had no idea where this was going. Was he not actually subject to punishment?

“Oh, you definitely are getting some sort of punishment. You did some truly awful things, especially considering you were friends with many of the people you were fighting.” Hades replied, making Luke question whether or not he had spoken aloud.  
“Luke, you’re dead. Anything that you are thinking will become known to me; this should seem semi-obvious. Especially someone smart enough to steal my helm right in front of me.”

If Luke didn’t know better, he’d say there was almost a smirk on Hades face. 

“Luke Castellan, you are the very definition of someone who thought that the end justifies the means. Along with having a fatal flaw of hubris, you were almost destined to have the fate you did.” 

“Lord Hades,” Luke finally said. “If I’m such a bad person who did so much wrong in life, what’s the point in this conversation? Why not just tie me to a rock and punish me already?” 

Hades frowned, “I never said that you were just a bad person. That’s why I wanted to punish you myself, I know better than anyone that not everyone who chose wrongly is a bad person.” Hades sighed. “I once had a girlfriend who made those wrong choices, drove herself mad by abusing my offer of giving her a gift.”

“What happened?” Luke didn’t know where this story was going, but he didn’t mind as it allowed him time before his sentencing. 

“I offered her anything, I don’t know what I was expecting, but she wanted all the riches in the earth. She knew that I control them and she was tired of being poor, she thought that she could live the life of a queen. Well, I gave Marie what she wanted. She bore a child that would have the power to summon precious metals and stones from the earth.”

Luke didn’t like where this story was headed. “What happened to them?”

 

“The daughter, Hazel, could summon riches but they were cursed. It was the way it had to be for balance in the universe. Marie came to hate her daughter and me saying we ruined her life. That left her open for manipulation, as I’m sure you can relate to.” 

Luke managed to look ashamed at that. 

“Gaea wanted to rise again and used Marie’s anger to do it. I was powerless to stop it as they both went beyond the land of the gods. Gaea used Hazel’s powers to try and recreate the giants, a foe even stronger than the Titans.”

Luke’s eyes widened. How in Hades was there some threat greater than the Titans? 

“In the end, they both gave their lives to stop the giant from uprising but it was too late. Marie condemned herself and would have been sent to punishment.”

“What do you mean, ‘would have’?” 

Hades waved his hand dismissively, “Hazel sacrificed her own place in Elysium to stop her mother from hell. My point is, that while Marie was never in the right until the end, I don’t blame her actions only mine. You’ll find that the biggest emotion down here is regret. And that is where we are today, what to do with you?”

This is what it came down to, where he’d spend the rest of eternity. He had hoped that one day he’d see Annabeth again, maybe even Thalia, although that’d be difficult with the hunters. He’d get to apologize for his actions. He’d get to see his family again. 

“Your assignment is one that, given your history, I know you’ll be good at.”

Gods, it was worse than he imagined an eternal repetition of his quest. Or something that had to do with his time as Kronos’s host body. He’d be Hades way of taking punishment on his ex that managed to get a lighter sentencing. 

“I subject you to be the underworld youth greeter.”

Huh????

Confusion must have been evident on his face because Hades continued. “In the underworld, we find ourselves with many children. For whatever reason, these kids died before their time, or they died fighting, or they died because they just had to. Either way, they are almost always scared and alone. It’s your job to deal with them. Most will get Elysium, some Asphodel, almost none get punishment but you never know. Anyone under 18, your job is to get them both from Charon’s boat, to judgment, and to their respected spots.”

Luke was still stunned, this was his punishment. This didn’t seem real, more like something a child decides when they suggest punishments for themselves. 

“Now, go! Chop, chop! I have things to do besides wait for you to realize that you have an actual job to do, don’t make me sick the furies on you.”

Luke went towards where he needed to go before he thought of a question. 

“Lord Ha…”

The lord of the dead was gone, leaving only Luke and the sounds of whips cracking in the background.


	2. What Happens When You're Damned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke got his punishment... how's that working out for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just needed to add this cause it seemed like such a good opportunity for so many things. Some major spoilers for The Burning Maze so read at your own risk. Hope everyone enjoys and comments their thoughts. I absolutely adore thoughtful thoughts about anything and it's such a treat for people to be writing it about my own work.

The first kid Luke ever had to take care of in the underworld was around 6. Her name was Caroline. She liked horses, elephants, and dolphins. Her favorite food was cake. And Luke was pretty sure she was mortal. 

She seemed happy to have someone watching her, but she kept asking Luke where her parents were, where she was, and when she could go home. 

He didn’t know how she died, but he hoped it was painless. 

The next kid was a boy who wouldn’t stop laughing at Luke’s armor. He was around 10 and couldn’t understand why a college-aged kid would ever be caught dead in cosplay. Luke simply rolled his eyes and sighed. This boy was definitely mortal. 

After that, the kids started to blur together. Most were mortal, surprisingly or not, dying from mortal problems. Some died out of starvation or sickness, some died from being abused or being killed. Every single one of their deaths had been before their time should have been. 

Some were brave, pretending that everything was fine. They were the ones who thought they were too old to need an escort and tried to distance themselves from Luke and tried to act mature. 

Some were scared, they cried and almost refused to accept that what was happening was real. This was all a dream and Luke was either the hero or the villain of that dream. He was the protector so that nothing could harm them. He was also the villain who allowed this to happen. Luke thought maybe this is how the gods sometimes felt like the people were going to think whatever they thought and nothing they did would ever change that. 

For the most part, though, the kids acted like this wasn't happening. Like Luke was taking them to the park and they just had to be home before dinner. Maybe it helped, thinking that all of this was temporary.

Luke wishes that he could have that mindset.  
\---------

By the time that he heard from other passing spirits that the Doors of Death were open, he had probably taken thousands of kids where they needed to go. Most no older than he’d been when he ran away from home. Part of him wanted to escape the underworld and try again for Elysium, but he knew that he’d been lucky in punishment. Olympus knows what might happen to him if he decided to leave on his own. 

He did find out that there was another war coming. He found out that another great prophecy was issued, he just hoped that Thalia and Annabeth were not caught in the crossfire. 

He wondered if he’d be the one to help them find their way when they died. Annabeth was sixteen when he’d died. She had fought in a Titan War and had been on multiple supposedly impossible quests, she’d most likely make it to adulthood. Maybe she’d even be able to settle down eventually, find a nice boy who was able to keep up with her and live a normal life. If any half-blood deserved it, Annabeth did. 

Then there was Thalia. Gods, had he messed up there. She’d be forever 15, a hunter of Artemis, a badass maiden who was bound to hunt monster and never settle down. Did a fifteen immortal count as the under eighteen guidelines he’d been given when Hades gave him his punishment? Gods, he didn’t even know what he wanted that answer to be. On one hand, he’d messed up so badly that he knew that nothing he could say would make that up, he’d be a huge disappointment to her. How could he ever face her knowing that he’d hurt her so badly?

On the other hand, he missed her. He missed her so much that the feeling was enough to be his punishment some days. He missed the system they had when stealing food on the road, she’d always be the distraction because she looked the troublemaker part. He missed the way that on good days they’d sit in their safe house and plan a future they both knew was impossible, one where the gods didn’t ruin everything in their lives. He even missed the things he didn’t think about at the time. He missed how she smelled of ozone and how her hair would get static filled when she got nervous. He missed how they’d been friends, best friends. 

His favorite memory of life was the time they managed to get a birthday cake for Annabeth’s birthday. It was in a safe house in Vermont, he had pickpocketed enough money to be able to go out and buy her a cake from an old bakery in town. After the initial celebration, Annabeth went to sleep pretty fast. For the rest of the night, Thalia and Luke just sat there in comfortable silence. Nothing else needed to be said. 

“Mr. Luke, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?”

Right, he was in the middle of his punishment and the little girl he was walking to Elysium looked worried. 

“Nah, Clara. You’re doing fine, I’m just missing some people.”

“Cause you’re dead.”

“Because I’m dead.”

She looked thoughtful as they walked the rest of the way in silence. Finally, she spoke, “That’s sad, I hope you see them soon.”

Luke sighed, “I hope I see them too.”

\--------

The war with Gaea came and went without much of a difference. He only found out about the war from some demigods who spoke of a civil war. Apparently, Roman demigods had attacked Camp Half-Blood because of either a misunderstanding or a pre-planned bombing of a weaponless city. Luke didn’t know which was the truth, although he highly doubted that Camp Half-Blood had tried to kill innocents. 

If Percy Jackson was still around at camp, which Luke was sure he was, the idea seemed so out of character that Luke wouldn’t even consider it. 

That guy was always too noble for his own good. Luke was pretty sure that during the Titan War he went easier on his enemies if they were Demigod fighters instead of monsters. Had Percy not had the Curse of Achilles, that tactic would have gotten him killed. 

Luke saw his next assignment and almost froze. This guy was a scrawny Latino kid, most likely around 15 years old. That wasn’t the shocking part though. The shocking part was that his spirit was flickering, almost as if the underworld didn’t know what to do with him. 

Luke approached, “Hey man, you okay.”

The kid looked up at him and grinned, “Either that Physician’s Cure is working or I’m in serious trouble.” 

Luke had no idea what a Physician’s Cure was, so he was going to guess that the latter was true. 

“I’ve only been here for about a year, but I’m assuming that this isn’t too common.” Luke didn’t know how to help this kid, should he get a fury or some other being with more authority than an inmate from the Fields. 

Before Luke had a chance to do anything, the kid flickered out completely. Luke had wide eyes and wasn’t sure what in Hades just happened. Whatever happened to the kid felt more like a video game character than a mortal spirit. Luke would put money on this kid being a demigod, most likely Hermes given the mischievous expression on the kid and the way he was able to cheat death like it was a game. 

Luke hoped that his maybe half-brother was alright. Maybe the kid got another chance at life, seemed unlikely but what else is new. 

\-------------

Few of the kids he met were very memorable. He’d always remember the first few. He’d remember the ones who were the most scared, the ones he’d have to sit with for what seemed like hours before he could even get them to walk them to their judgment. They were usually seven or younger, much too young to die. 

However, the one kid that Luke knew he’d never forget was Thalia’s brother. 

It started like many of his assignments did. He walked to the Styx to find a boy about sixteen or seventeen, blonde hair, about as tall as Luke, and with a scar on his upper lip. He had the demeanor of Mr. Rogers or something, non-threatening and calm. The only thing that unsettled him was his eyes, in life they would have been electric, in death they were still a piercing blue.

Way too similar to one Thalia Grace to be a coincidence

His first words spoken were also rather unsettling. 

“I know you.”

As far as Luke knew this was his first time meeting the boy. Maybe he’d fought in the war and knew of Luke that way. Although, the way he said the words didn’t scream enemy. 

Luke gave a tight laugh, “I don’t know about that. I’m assuming you’re a demigod though, I’m here to escort you to judgment.”

“Yah, Son of Jupiter. I’m sure I know you though. Maybe a photo or something.”

“Jupiter that’s the Roman version of Zeus right?” He wasn’t sure how that would work, Kronos definitely didn’t know about this kid and he had made it a habit of keeping track of the children of the big three. 

“Yah,” Kid looked thoughtful. Then he snapped his fingers like he just figured something out, “That’s where I know you from, you were in Thalia’s photos back at Camp.” 

Kid’s expression turned sad at that, but Luke’s head was spinning. “Wait, Thalia Grace.”

“Yeah, she’s my sister. It’s a really long story involving the interference of a goddess, but I’m her brother. My name’s Jason Grace.”

Luke felt like crying, but he started laughing. “Gods Thals, they were messing with you for so much longer than me and you still chose to stand by them.” Maybe he was crying at this point.

“Wait, how do you know Thalia? Annabeth said something about you being dead and the photo made it look like you guys were old friends.”

If that was all this kid knew about him, part of Luke wanted to keep the kid ignorant. Let him think that he’s just some old friend who died during the war. Make him think his sister had better choices in friends. 

Instead, he said, “Met your sister after she ran away, I guess after whatever goddess interference that you mentioned that caused the two of you to be separated. Spent a lot of years fighting together, and even longer fighting against each other in the fight for Olympus.”

The kid, Jason apparently, got put on guard instantly. “You fought for the Titans and against your friends! Why are you even free at this point, shouldn’t you be in the fields?”

This kid had the anger of his sister and the self-righteousness of his father. Had Luke not been currently in punishment, and had this kid not been Thalia’s brother, he would be throwing this kid into the Styx behind them. 

Instead, he said, “What great nobleness do you get from defending the gods? They have all this great power and yet they can’t save their own kids. Or did you forget where you currently are?”

Now, it was Jason’s turn to get angry. “I don’t blame the gods for how my life ended. I died protecting my friends, protecting the girl I lo-” Jason sighed and seemed to rephrase that slightly calmer. “The girl who was my best friend. Don’t say that just because you made the wrong choice, I did too.” 

For all the self-righteousness, Luke had to laugh. “You are definitely you’re sisters brother. Did she ever start to yell at you only realize half-way through you may have a point, and so she decides to yell at the fact that you weren’t more convincing in your solution, to begin with?” Thalia was definitely a fireball. 

The anger seemed to be replaced by sadness, “I didn’t really know her for long. Juno took me away when I was two, maybe because two demigod children from the same woman was too much, maybe because I’m Roman and she’s Greek. But we didn’t meet again until I was fifteen. I guess now we’ll never know each other better.”

Luke understood regret, he knew that it would drive someone insane if they spent all their time soaking in it. Despite the fact that this kid seemed to get a reality check on some issues, he didn’t deserve to regret leaving Thalia for the second time. 

“How about this, we’ll walk to judgment, I’m guessing you’ll get Elysium. On the way over, I’ll tell you about some stories about your sister.”

They walked and Luke talked. He spoke of his time on the road with Thalia and Annabeth. He even managed to get a couple of chuckles out of Jason. 

Jason for his part of their talk seemed like a good listener. He hung onto Luke’s every word, trying to get every detail of what his sister had been like, like listening to Luke’s memories could make up for Jason not being there. 

After it was decided that Jason was granted Elysium, Luke finally worked up the courage to ask what was on his mind. 

“So, you mentioned Annabeth earlier. Is she okay?”

“Define, okay? She’s alive, last I heard.”

Luke felt like he was trying to a small animal, maybe an elephant. “How’s she actually then, tell me everything that’s happened since the Battle of Manhattan.”

Jason looked like he was about to protest, but must have thought better of it from the desperation in Luke’s voice. Luke needed to know what was happening with his family. 

“She started dating Percy, Percy Jackson. I don’t know how well you knew him or-”

“It’s fine, I know Percy.” Knew him enough that they might have been mortal enemies. At eighteen his mortal enemy had been a twelve year old, that might say something of the quality of Luke’s life.

“Right,” Jason looked slightly uncomfortable, which made sense given how Luke was 100% the enemy in this kids eyes. “Well, a couple months later, Percy went missing. A new great prophecy was coming to unfold and Percy and Annabeth were at the center of it. Annabeth was heartbroken, but functioning.”

Of course, she was functioning, she’d seen her best friend and the girl who practically rise her die and turned into a tree and she’d seen her other best friend and protector betray her and eventually die. If there was one thing that described Annabeth it was a survivor. 

“Percy and Annabeth ended up finding each other, but then Annabeth ended up going on a solo quest that ended with the two of them falling into Tartarus.”

“Wait,” Luke must have heard something wrong, no way was little Annabeth, the girl who would scream in the middle of the night until Luke killed all the spiders that had crept in, the girl who when they first met had flung a hammer at Luke’s face, the girl who had seen too much heartbreak at only sixteen. No way did that girl have to also face the horrors of Tartarus itself. “Tartarus, as in monster hell. As in, where the gods trap all their worst enemies. As in-”

“No, you heard me right. Tartarus. How they managed to survive, I’ll never know? I mean we still don’t even know how Nico…” Jason suddenly looked heartbroken. 

 

“You okay, kid.”

“Y-yah, I-I’m fine. Just realizing that Nico finally found someone who he trusted enough to be his friend, only to have them die on him.”

“Nico di Angelo, son of Hades?”

“You know him? Of course, you do, why am I even surprised at this point. You probably know everyone that I was friends with.” Sarcastically, he added, “Any chance you also know Leo Valdez or Piper Mclean?”

“Is Leo a fifteen-year-old, Latino kid who died sometime in the last year only to come back to life, because I may have seen a kid like that.”

 

“Why am I not surprised?” 

It was quiet until they reached Elysium. Not that they both didn’t have a million questions, just that neither knew how to ask them. When they arrived, however, Luke had to ask one last question. 

“Annabeth and T-thalia, are they happy? I know probably not at the moment as you just died, but will they be happy?”

Jason smirked a little, “No thanks to either of us, but yeah. Thalia loves being a hunter and Annabeth and Percy are basically the best-matched couple in existence. Thalia is going to forever be Artemis's, right-hand woman. Annabeth is going to be a fantastic architect and is going to college in the fall. They’re gonna be okay.”

“We both kinda ruined that happiness by dying though.”

“They’ll get over it. Annabeth will see both of us when she dies, and Thalia will eventually forget about us.”

“Me, probably, if she’s lucky... But her little brother that set her whole demigod life in motion by leaving her, no way in Hades.” 

Jason smiled but didn’t look like he believed that Thalia would remember him. 

“See you around then, Luke.”

“See you, Jason.” 

It was slightly awkward, but they parted ways. Luke thinking back on it, smiled. Maybe their lives weren’t perfect fantasy since the Titan War ended, but they were or at least would be, happy. And thank the gods for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I just have a lot of feelings on this topic. One good thing doesn't justify many horrible things. When Annabeth said that during TLO, I feel like that was just judgment based off being his "little sister." I feel like Hades might go easier, but it'd still need to look like he was hardcore punishing. I don't know, everyone please tell me opinions in the comments. Turns out writing Luke as not evil is hard when it's the first real-time writing a PJO standalone fic. (That's a lie, this will probably have more parts of Luke doing his job. I might even bring in BURNING MAZE SPOILER.)


End file.
